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The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

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Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#161

Post by em-bee »

rootusrootus wrote: post #85
thfuran wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US is a country with hundreds of millions of people in tens of thousands of municipalities in dozens of states. The idea that because outliers exist, they describe the typical experience everywhere in the nation is preposterous on its face.

One place I'd have hoped would be able to understand such a simple concept is HN. Especially with all the Europeans who frequent this site. 330 million people with about the same land area as Europe. Yet people simultaneously think there can be a pretty big difference between, say, UK and Poland, but think that every newsworthy event that happens anywhere in the US is representative of all of the US. It would be hila…

uhm, not quite. it's all relative. regions in europe for centuries have been separated by national borders and still are separated by languages. as a result, each region in europe is homogeneous, but different from other regions in ways that doesn't compare to the differences in the US. pretty much the only thing that is really the same every country in europe is mcdonalds and cocacola.

yes, there are plenty of differences in the US too, but they are limited to much smaller regions. it is more likely to say that pittsburgh and los angeles are different than the east coast vs the west coast. i have lived in both regions, as i have lived and traveled in many regions of europe. the most stark differences in the US are local, when you compare say an amish town with another town nearby. or chinatown which exists many cities. but for almost any regional uniqueness in the US you can find multiple locations all over the US that share that uniqueness. which is not the case in europe.

the problem is that we tend to overstate our differences. i have lived in europe, the US, and new zealand, and i thought they were all very different from each other, until i traveled to asia and africa, and realized that in comparison all western countries really are pretty much the same.

in the end we all have much more in common than we realize.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#162

Post by Andaith »

hooper_ wrote: post #88

I had a simmilar experiance in Iceland, compared to my home country (Australia). Some examples: * The birth of our son cost us a total of $50. That was parking fees and a bed for me in the same room as my Partner. Who had a 30 hour labor and an emergancy C-Section. * For the first couple of weeks we had a nurse coming over and checking up on the health of my partner and son. Organized and paid for by the goverment. *…

In Australia we had the same experience, basically.

The costs for the public system was basically just the parking. In addition, discussing the experience with every other mother in the mothers group, the public hospital we went to treated my wife better than any of the private hospitals treated the other half-dozen women.

We had a nurse visit occasionally to check up on our son. paid for by govt.

My wife got the standard 3mo paid by govt, but she took 12mo of leave. I got 4mo paid by my company(I know I was lucky in that regard).

I take sick leave whenever I want because I have about 10yrs of it banked up with my current employer. My wifes employer is also really chill about her taking leave and even going into a negative leave balance.

One thing I agree though, daycare is ridiculously expensive. So genuinely relieved when my son started school & we only have to pay daycare for 1 child now. Can't wait till my second child is in school and I can put all that money on the mortgage instead.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#163

Post by LtWorf »

eeghyrdcg wrote: post #67
LtWorf wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NL has comparatively low taxes for what they get. Their entire economy is based on scamming the other EU countries out of their company taxes, by letting companies open there, and then do transfer pricing. edit: downvoting me won't change how NL is ran.

I think calling it scamming is incorrect. They are competing — successfully!

They are using a loophole.

And, have you ever met a Dutch person? Very often they will tell you within 3 minutes how much better they are than you, since they come from a country with such a good economy, unlike yours.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#164

Post by tmnvix »

ars wrote: post #153
tmnvix wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not from the US, but just zoomed into a random spot in what I assume is a typical shopping district in suburban Atlanta[1]. Can't imagine many young kids safely walking or biking around there. Compare a local shopping district near me[2]. Plenty of young kids walking and biking to school here alone and in groups. [1] https://www.google.co.nz/maps/@33.8644514,-84.5949946,3a,75y... [2] https://www.google.co.nz/maps…

You compared a commercial zone to a residential zone. What did you expect? I mean drive around a little in the place you picked - do you see any houses? Now move your map a couple miles in any direction and you'll see forests with walking trails, ponds, parks, small streets where kids can play on the street. That's what it's actually like.

That 'residential zone' has a supermarket, brewery, bakery, cafe, hairdresser, restaurant, bar, video store(!), community hall, basketball court, park, childcare centre, greengrocer, takeaway shop, and secondhand store all within 50m on a street with a 30km/h speed limit.

When I explore that area surrounding the commercial zone in Atlanta I find just houses, green spaces, and roads. It's a crappy environment for anyone without a car (e.g. kids).

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#165

Post by Symbiote »

ClimaxGravely wrote: post #154
gnicholas wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it "certainly dangerous" to leave a 5 year old and a 10 year old in a car, while I go into a store to pick something up?

Not the person you asked but if I had to guess it might be similar to how people react to leaving a dog in a car. That is to say it's a heat issue.

Unlike dogs, children can open doors and windows, and can shout for help if they think it essential.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#166

Post by nicholasbraker »

jannw wrote: post #75

"But, after spending time at their former home on Bloemgracht, a street and canal in the Jordaan neighborhood of Amsterdam" So ... for context ... the Bloemgracht is where the 1% of Dutch people live. Not exactly Park Avenue ... but not Queens, and certainly not the Ozarks.

Haha this.. That part of Amsterdam is really for the hipster-rich people. Now go to the southern Burroughs of Rotterdam or Amsterdam-Bijlmer ;-)

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#167

Post by morsch »

seoulmetro wrote: post #150
morsch wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be a social policy, as well. In Germany, each parent is entitled to up to 10 days a year (single parents get 20) to take care of their sick child. Most people get 70% of their regular wages for those days, paid by the public health insurance.

In Australia those are part of your sick leave, and you get roughly 10 a year IIRC. Quite generous. At 100% wage, paid by your employer.

Your own sick leave (at 100% pay, paid by the employer) is separate and the average German employee takes 22 days of sick leave per year, up from 16 days ten years ago.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#168

Post by ars »

tmnvix wrote: post #164
ars wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You compared a commercial zone to a residential zone. What did you expect? I mean drive around a little in the place you picked - do you see any houses? Now move your map a couple miles in any direction and you'll see forests with walking trails, ponds, parks, small streets where kids can play on the street. That's what it's actually like.

That 'residential zone' has a supermarket, brewery, bakery, cafe, hairdresser, restaurant, bar, video store(!), community hall, basketball court, park, childcare centre, greengrocer, takeaway shop, and secondhand store all within 50m on a street with a 30km/h speed limit. When I explore that area surrounding the commercial zone in Atlanta I find just houses, green spaces, and roads. It's a crappy environment for anyo…

I guess you are used to zillions of tiny stores near all the houses?

People in the US don't like that, they like central large stores in one area, and then residences without any business nearby. You are wrong though, it's actually very nice for the kids, they can play without worry. But they can't go shopping. Big deal, that hardly matters.

I lived in a place like that, it's actually a really nice way to grow up. Much better than the packed-in way that they do it in Europe or New York. Instead of stores, you have space. And yes, you can play in the road, there's not that many cars, since the only driving nearby is if you live there. And kids can and do, ride bikes all over the place, because again, hardly any cars.

It's different tradeoffs. Also don't forget America is big, really really big. Without a car you basically can't go anywhere, America is too big for public transport to work, with the exception of a couple large cities.

And they like it that way.

Americans don't want to live closely packed near other people. They like having space. The like having huge houses, and huge yards. They like not hearing the neighbors. (And if you want something different, you can live in a large city.)

I've been in the kinds of cities you seem to like, and I find them miserable experiences, it's so crowded, you can't get away from people! The stores are so small, the selection is terrible and the costs high. And you can't go anywhere since you need a bus to do anything (which means you can't take very much with you, and you don't have anyplace to store things), instead of just hop in your car. You can go anywhere, you can leave your possessions locked in your car, so you don't have to carry them.

I've talked to people who used to live in New York, then moved out, and they act like prisoners who found freedom. They had no idea how nice it is to live somewhere with space. Yes you need a car for that, but that's hardly a problem.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#169

Post by mihaic »

There are lots of reasons why raising children is becoming harder, and ironically I haven't seen anyone here say the HN classic: scale.

As some things have to be constant, the fewer children we have the more time-consuming and expensive it become to tend to each one. I remembered when I was young that children could be tended in groups, which allowed most of their parents some free time. Now every couple has to do everything by themselves.

Re: The happiest kids in the world have social safety nets

#170

Post by thefz »

MBlume wrote: post #4

I'm strongly in favor of expanding the US social safety net, but I don't want to neglect other obvious factors here. Dutch children are able to walk or bike outside unsupervised. In the US they'd risk either being killed by a driver, or stopped by an overzealous neighbor or police officer. I think this kind of freedom of movement has a big effect on happiness, it certainly did for me. ETA relevant links: https://yout…

Witnessing Americans slowly realizing that public health care and social safety contribute more to personal freedom than anything else they consider "freedom" (such a as unregulated capitalism) is a wonderful process.

Do you think you can create a better society if you provide everyone with basics, or by granting access to guns to everybody?

I mean, you guys don't walk in your city and don't have kids playing outside. Wow. Land of the free?

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